More Comet 17P/Holmes
Comments(24)
Or just plain Comet Holmes if you prefer. I had pretty decent skies this morning so I went out and looked for the comet and there it was. I am impressed with how diffuse it has become. Much more diffuse than it was only a few days ago, and big, I think it’s about twice as large as it was. It’s no where near as bright as it was, probably because it isn’t as concentrated. The image makes it look brighter than it appeared to me too, the color is about right. Clicking the image will open a larger version.
Astroprof wrote a very good post about the come, be sure to go on over and have a look.
Oh, I did go looking for the Witch Head nebula too, but between the moon and the clouds moving through, I figured I’d better grab the comet image before daylight came. I am undaunted and I will try again. Our predicted clear skies are completely overcast — go figure.
Is it just me, or is a tail starting to develop, heading out to around 2 o’clock in that photo? Seems that the expansion might be at an end and the solar wind is affecting it again.
I noticed comet at 4:00 this morning, seems to me
it had bluish tint. Also noticed Venus in morning
sky.
I went out with the Binoculars last night and looked at this comet. It is pretty cool. It’s no Hale – Bopp but it’s still nice. I may get the telescope out tonight and take my son out to look at it. This is a good picture, Tom, Thanks for sharing it.
I’ve been watching this for several nights now – amazing comet!
BRAVO
Funny you should mention the bluish tint Thomas, I’ve seen that in some of the images I’ve seen. Here it has a distinct yellow tint, maybe it’s from the moon. The moon isn’t very far from it in the morning when I get my best looks at it.
Yay Joe!! Get the kids out there!
What is the prognosis for Comet Holmes? By that I mean how much longer should it be visible and when should it start fading? I know it’s a “wild-card” so far as comets are concerned and it fairly astounded me that its orbit falls inside the orbit of Jupiter! I assumed it had a period of about 115 years because it was reported that it experienced a similar flare-up in 1892. Once I got JAVA installed (I thought it came with the M$ operating system!!!) and looked at the track I found out it’s a short (6 year) period comet. Anyway, how much longer should it be visible?
Orbital Diagram link: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=17p&orb=1
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!I saw it on 2/3NOV,with a 2″ binoculars from Bucharest,Romania.Eaven with naked eye i can tell it’ not a star,it’s difuse!
Wayne, it’s pretty much anybody’s guess; it would help if it was known why it’s going through this outburst. Some are speculating on the comets demise, others pointing to the fact the coma is quite diffuse and the actual loss of material from the comet is less than it may seem.
Personally, I’m going somewhere in the middle, but leaning very much to the later. In deference to the comet collapse crowd, I’m in the “it got hit by something” camp. Why? I dunno, seems like a cool thing to have happen is all. Anyway, I think the comet will be around to outburst another day. Could be wrong though.
I only heard about this comet yesterday 3NOV07 and found it this a.m. 5:00 CST. I was so excited I almost dropped my binoculars!
Thanks Tom. I went out looking for it night before last back in the country where it was DARK – No small task these days! The sky was the clearest I’d seen it since the days following Katrina. I was lost!!! There were so many stars I literally couldn’t find north; let alone a recognizable constellation. I was with my wife and another couple so I wasn’t able to “set up camp” and stay very long. Then last night I went to a place with a small amount of light pollution and there it was! Fantastic! although I disagree with the assessment of “Half the apparent size of a full moon”. I took some photos with my Canon S3-IS and managed to get one recognizable photo. It was fairly difficult because only the brightest objects are visible in the viewfinder and I’m limited by a 15 second shutter speed at f 2.7 to f 3.5 at 10X zoom. I am proud of the one shot I did get though. Thanks again for the well-managed blog and dedication to your craft/hobby.
Wooo hooo! Congrats Julie!! Glad you got to see it!
Glad you got to get an image of it too Wayne. I checked it out this morning without the scope. I was working on some things with my set up so the scope was busy. Kind of too bad because I’m not sure we are going to have decent skies for a while.
I noticed that I saw quite a few meteors Friday and Saturday nights and thought it unusual until I noticed we’re in the annual Taurids shower. I’d never actually gone out for that one as it’s not usually active and I’ve not had much success for the past couple of years for any of the showers. It’s rewarding to see something unexpected. I’ve seen about 10 per hour these two nights and am planning on going out again tonight… They’ll probably go away now! I see Holmes has grown a tail but probably not visible using low-tech devices – binoculars. The battery pack for the motor drive split apart under the stress of the 8 AA batteries and so far conventional repairs have failed. I’m an electrician by trade so finding another 12 volt source shouldn’t prove too elusive; just got my plate loaded with taking care of my wife during the day.
http://www.wunderground.com says your skies should clear in a day or two so keeping my fingers crossed for you.
BTW, Great image Tom!!! Looking forward to the next one.
I have taken a few timelapse movies of the comet over the past few days and am out every night that i can until its not visible anymore. its easy to get photos of this one.
check then out here:
http://www.revver.com/playlist/show/291594/
thomas
Thomas, is there an accompanying explanation of equiptment, procedure, ect. with the movies? I’d be interested in trying somethin like that out if the equiptment isn’t too sophisticated.
Yeah Thomas, that’s pretty cool.
Tom, I’d personally appreciate you starting another Comet 17P/Holmes page/thread to invite further discussion. I don’t know why but this wanderer has a special appear to me. Perhaps because I’ve been able to share my experiences in viewing with so many local friends and acquaintances and they’ve all been receptive and interested in the comet. Additionally, most have shown an interest in naked eye and low-power astronomy. The Milky Way has been visible to the naked eye several times in the past couple of weeks and I’ve seen more than a few jaws drop upon viewing it through binoculars. My own sense of wonder has followed suit as well even though I’ve seen it countless times before. It’s one of those things that never seems to lose its beauty and majesty.
That’s “special appeal” instead of “special appear”. shame on me for poor proof reading… Like my daddy use to say, “Don’t worry, son: It gets worse with age.”
Heh, I hear that Wayne, I need a spell checker and a Tom checker somedays! Hey I managed another image of the comet this morning, should be up by this afternoon. Just wondering if you had another chance at it.
Just a bit overloaded the past few days with youth soccer league winding down and I volunteered to do the photos for teams. Wound up doing individuals too though. Gotta get them touched up and printed but hope to get out tonight. I looked at it Tuesday night and couldn’t see the apparent dimming they’re talking about. I want at least one more shot fer sure as I see it’s developing a tail (at spaceweather.com). Looking forward to seeing your new shot. I think I’m going to do an “also posted” at spaceweather as an example of what to expect with a point-and-shoot camera. That was my first really recognizable astronomical oddity photo. Still don’t have a meteor shot but it’s on my short list.
my goodness, what you are seeing is not comet holmes but planet x or nibiru. And it is not going away but will stay within the orbit of jupiter as calculated by the sumerians thousand of years ago.In the coming days, its effects will already be felt on earth and this is just the beginning.
I have followed 17P/Holmes on every night that the clouds or murk did not obscure it for almost a year.
I think it will be visable for as long. Also it may
be our aproach to the Milky Way plane that may have
denser fields that excited the comet and may have
pacified solar spots activity. Any theory(s) why this can not be so?
Awesome Dee, what are you using for a scope? I know people have been following it, and I am going to see if I can still see it provided it is up when I am able to get out.
I don’t think it has anything to do with the solar minimum, which by the way I don’t think is all that abnormal….yet. I am looking for a upswing to start in the next few months. I know prorogation has been bad (ham radio) because of it.